Two struggling NHL teams today opted to swap once highly-touted now under-achieving forwards, as the Montreal Canadiens shipped winger Guillaume Latendresse to the Minnesota Wild in exchange for forward Benoit Pouliot. 

Latendresse, 22, was a second round pick of the Canadiens in the 2005 entry draft who failed to play up to expectations as a power forward for the Habs. In three seasons in Montreal he managed 29, 27 and 26 points respectively and this season had only two goals and three points in 23 games. 

Pouliot, 23, went in the same draft as Latendresse but considerably higher as the Wild took him fourth overall.

His performance however has been scarcely better than Latendresse; in fact, it's been worse, as he's split much of the past three seasons bouncing between the

- NHL center Andrew Ebbett is on the move again. 

Just over a month after being claimed off waivers by the Chicago Blackhawks from the Anaheim Ducks Ebbett has been claimed again, this time by the Minnesota Wild. 

Ebbett, 26, was placed on waivers by the Blackhawks after only ten games for two reasons; to make room on the roster for winger Marian Hossa's long-awaited debut as a Blackhawk, and to allow the club to free up some much-needed cap space. 

OK, there's also a third reason: he wasn't as good a fit as hoped when the Blackhawks claimed him earlier in the season in hopes he'd provide depth at center. 

After having a strong debut performance last season with the Ducks (32 points in 48 games) Ebbett did not have a good training camp this season and saw action

Minnesota Wild general manager Chuck Fletcher finally made a move to bolster his injury ravaged forward lines, acquiring right winger Chuck Kobasew from the Boston Bruins. 

Heading to the Bruins is checking forward Craig Weller, a second round pick in 2011 and the rights to prospect Alexander Fallstrom.

Kobasew comes with a $2.33 million salary for this season and the Wild were roughly 0K from the salary cap ceiling, but according to Michael Russo of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune the club placed forward Pierre-Marc Bouchard (concussion) on long term injury status thus allowing them to take on Kobasew's salary.

With Bouchard, Cal Clutterbuck (sprained ankle), Martin Havlat and Petr Sykora (groin) sidelined the Wild were struggling offensively, and with nothing really

Just catching up on some NHL signings which occurred last week that were missed due to the fallout from the Heatley and Kessel trades respectively.

The Minnesota Wild brought in some experienced scoring depth for their forward lines last week, signing former Pittsburgh Penguins winger Petr Sykora to a one-year, $1.6 million contract. 

Sykora had originally been invited to the Wild camp on a tryout basis but was signed by the club within a matter of a few days. 

Wild general manager Chuck Fletcher has been trying to bring more depth to his scoring lines during the off-season, and had been rumored interested in Dany Heatley and Phil Kessel before the two were subsequently dealt to their respective new teams.

In the 32-year-old Sykora they're getting a nine-time twenty-plus goal

In a move that might foreshadow an eventual trade of goaltending Josh Harding the Minnesota Wild on Friday signed backup goaltender Wade Dubielewicz to a one-year contract. Financial terms weren't disclosed. 

Wild GM Chuck Fletcher told the Star Tribune signing Dubielewicz could be an insurance move if the team were to trade Harding, a restricted free agent who would prefer to be a starting goaltender, which isn't going to happen on the Wild with Niklas Backstrom as their starter. 

Dubielewicz has spent most of his career bouncing between the NHL, the minor leagues and Europe. In 40 career NHL games split between the NY Islanders and Columbus Blue Jackets he has a respectable record of 17-15-1 with a 2.64 goals-against average and a .916 save percentage. 

"Dubie" will

It didn’t take long for Minnesota Wild general manager Chuck Fletcher to replace winger Marian Gaborik, who signed with the NY Rangers via free agency today.

Fletcher turned to former Chicago Blackhawks winger Martin Havlat, inking him to a six-year, $30 million contract worth $5 million per season against the Wild’s cap, which will be $1 million per season less than he earned under his previous contract.

The Wild GM may have replaced one talented right winger with another, and for less than Gaborik signed with the Rangers, but Havlat shares another trait with Gaborik besides playing right wing, he also has a lengthy injury history.

Like Gaborik, Havlat is a very talented offensive player, but the 28-year-old has been hampered by injuries for much of his NHL career. Last